In the field of chemical or biological sensing or detecting, it is desirable to quickly detect substances at a contaminated scene and report information about the substances in order to prevent others from coming into contact or influence with the detected substance. There are standoff chemical detectors heretofore known that display information associated with the detection process independently from the scene where the chemicals are detected.
There are many shortcomings associated with the above-mentioned devices. Unless the contaminated scene is properly marked, a user carrying and controlling the detection equipment is the only one that can confirm the presence or absence of a substance at a specific location by performing a real-time measurement at the given location. The user carrying and controlling the detection equipment relies only on memory and visual markers to conduct a high spatial resolution delineation of the contamination patch. To visualize and remember the exact location of threat-chemical detection events, the user needs to physically mark the location of these events with a chemical-specific marking. Thus, the chance that the contaminated scene can become disrupted is high. Further, for large search/detection missions that can include walls, floors, and ceilings, the task of keeping track of already surveyed areas becomes quickly intractable.
No substance detection system is heretofore known that provides for real-time AR display of a scene as it is being scanned for contaminations.